Into Oblivion: Nightmares Of The Virtual World
by Aquilla Moore
Summary: Trapped in the virtual world, the Kaiba brothers are cruelly separated by their tormentors. Mokuba is in serious danger, and Seto endures special hardships that no one, not even his little brother, is to know about. Warning:Heavy themes, thrilling scenes.
1. A Familiar Setting

**Into Oblivion: Nightmares Of The Virtual World**

**Seto and Mokuba are digitally trapped within a unique super computer that has remained a secret from the world for years. With the burden of the innocent-minded and gullible Yugi Moto and friends in tow, the Seto Kaiba struggles to keep safe under the constant threat of Noah and Gozaburo, and to break free from this isolated world of twists and turns. Chances for escape are slim when reality is what Gozaburo makes it, and often he makes it cruel. The undead billionaire hides behind his secret son, Noah, who relishes his role of sick trickster and reigns down unending terror upon his father's captives. Love him or loathe him, you'll find it hard to keep your eyes off the green-haired monster child. **

**Aggravated and out for revenge, Seto has more than enough to deal with as the truth of his impossible situation keeps transforming before his eyes, yet he protects his brother at all costs with**** unyielding devotion. But when the brothers are cruelly separated things take a devastating turn. Mokuba is in serious danger, and Seto endures special hardships that no one, not even his little brother, is to know about. **

**But the worst is yet to come; no matter what he predicts, nothing can prepare Seto for his greatest ordeal. And inevitably, you will be dragged in to share it with him … **

**Think of a dark, deep universe in which all around you is saturated in black nothingness. Your eyes feel closed although they are wide open. Hopelessly you listen and wait; for sounds, scents, the brush against you skin that might revive you from your coma. No familiar voices seek you out. You have been forgotten. This is oblivion. This is your nightmare. So to all you readers out there, you better be prepared, because _I'm about to twist your mind like a pretzel…_**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong> There's enough action, strife and emotional tangles to have your stomach churning, plus a hidden sex scene or two, and above all, there are shocks that keep urging you closer to the shattered twist right at the end of this killer pretzel knot. Often taken from Seto's perspective, iltalicsed words are his thoughts. For those of you who take no interest in the repetitive dueling of the Virtual World Ark anime, here there is none.

**Additional Genres**: Action, Romance, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Humor, Mystery, Angst.

**Disclaimer:** Yu-Gi-Oh! is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi.

**Rating: ** M (Themes of sexual, mental and physical abuse are prevalent.)

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 : A Familiar Setting<strong>

Rich sunset.

Beautiful beach.

Relaxing walk.

_A nightmare._

He walked like no other would; angrily gliding over the long stretch of soft, white sand; his boots sinking in a little each step. He was disgusted by the flashy display of nature; the landscape, bathed in pure orange light from the glow of the setting sun; the cool waves, rolling onto the wet shoreline.

"So _fake_," he muttered under his breath, completely unimpressed. Seto Kaiba was never content with anything as a general rule, not unless he had tested it to its very limits, first. But this place was the exception. He had _created_ it, but now despised it intensely. Here was his own, yet it was unfamiliar, and out of his control -something he had thought of and designed all on his own, that was now being used to screw him over. He hated that. But this was all a waste of time. _Soon, that kid would see that_..._Noah was probably watching them right now_.

"Hmm."

Seto would not crack. He would let Noah do that for him. He was weak, emotional and spoilt by the looks of things…So it really didn't make sense how all this could be put together by one whiney little child. The Big Five could be organising things, but they didn't have the computing knowledge or even the intelligence to carry out successful plans. Besides, they seemed to be at Noah's beck and call. _Just dogs to their master,_ Seto decided.

The program was to the core, his design, but who had taken his old idea and set up this whole world? It was based on his program, but he had never seen something so vast or complex before. Far from impressed, Seto was silently livid. _Who was the fool who dared to ground his aircraft and keep him here? Not Noah, no. Someone with real power must be behind all of this, pulling Noah's strings._ He had to know who.

And…_why? _

What the hell did they want with him? Perhaps Noah, or the power behind him, wanted the Duellist title for themselves? _Fat chance_, Seto laughed internally._ If that brat knew what was good for him, he would quit the damn mind games and face him like a true opponent_, Seto thought. But that Noah brat seemed a coward, and cowards always squirmed and writhed so desperately to get away from true confrontation. They liked to stand predictably back and watch from safety, while their front men did their dirty work for them. But in time, Seto would dispose of the Big Five too, and then lunge his vengeful grip right around that brat's throat. He would make him squeal, just like the coward he was. Then he would find out exactly who was behind this, and they would pay dearly for disrupting Seto's Battle City Tournament just when he was about to arrive at his Duel Tower, and take his rightful place as the number one duellist back from Yugi Moto.

"Yugi…"_ Another weakling that needed taking care of._ _All in time,_ Seto reassured himself. He was always under total control, no matter what went crashing down around him.

From behind Seto, a short creature with a wild mane of black hair whirred past him. Seto's eyes momentarily widened, and then he remembered that he was not alone.

"Mokuba…Mokuba!" the figure stopped obediently as Seto called, "Slow down. We don't know what's ahead of us."

"Yes, Nii-sama. …I'm just so sick of this," his little brother's head sunk.

"Oh, you mean _this_?" Seto gestured to the sunset before them in a falsely upbeat tone, "Noah's just putting on a show for us, you should be grateful that he gave us a change of scenery."

Seto's words were laden with sarcasm; the rare kind he indulged in only with his brother. It was as close as he got to cracking jokes. _Ever._ But Mokuba was too frustrated to laugh, and stomped into the sand with his little trainers, "I don't want to be on a virtual beach, or in a virtual forest, or even in a virtual amusement park! I want outta here!"

Seto merely walked on by, causing Mokuba to halt his protest in embarrassment. He remembered- a Kaiba should know better. He ran over his big brother's large boot prints and came at his side, attempting to make amends, "I'm sorry, Nii-sama."

"Listen, don't get upset. Don't let anything here get to you. Otherwise Noah has won. He wants us to break down. But that won't be happening….I can assure you!" Seto called up to the sky, a fierce glare drawn over his intimidating features, "I_ know _what you want, but you will be sadly disappointed, Noah! I don't think you know just who you're dealing with!"

Mokuba whispered from below, startled by his brother's harsh cry, "You…you really think he can hear us?"

"Of course he can. He's watching us right now. That why everyone's been brought here, Mokuba. To stew while he takes him time to work on me. I'm the one he wants," Seto spoke in bitter confidence.

"That doesn't make any sense. What does a random stranger want with you? And…the others are trapped too. I wonder where they are right now…" Mokuba pondered in concern. As he drew his hand to his tiny chin to think of the possibilities, Seto raised his arm to point out something in the distance. It was a large portal door, just like all the others before it. _These designs were so typically repetitive._

"Well, there's only one way to find that out. It seems we are wanted elsewhere, Mokuba," he strode forward and motioned for his little brother to follow. As he held the door open and Mokuba slipped through, Seto turned to face the sun-setting world. He hoped nothing so garishly pretentious was waiting for them on the other side.

And there was no such eventuation. A silver and grey cityscape greeted their eyes, filled with skyscrapers and long empty streets. It looked like they were on the fringe of a central business district to him, as they were in the middle of old industrial and residential buildings. Just as they turned to explore down a main street, Seto heard a high voice call out from the direction of nearby warehouses, "Mokuba, did that sound like that Tea girl to you?"

"Yea, I heard her too," Mokuba smiled.

If the group had met with Noah, then Seto might be able to find a way to reach him too.

"Let's go," Seto started forward at fast pace, and his brother kept up with his long strides. _Mokuba was a good runner thanks to him, _he smirked. They made their way through wide rows of warehouses, paying attention for the shrill girlish voice. But it had stopped. There were no new sounds…apart from that light thudding that echoed faintly from above the back of Seto's right. It was coming from the rooftops. His eyes narrowed. They were being followed.

_No more games, damn it._

He spun around violently and shouted in his deepest voice, " SHOW YOURSELF!"

They peered at the rooftops and saw that their stalker was none other than, "Tristan? Whoa, how did you get up there? Are the others ok?" Mokuba said, racing forward to get a better look at him. But there was no need. Tristan managed with supernatural skill, to leap down gracefully and raise a smooth aluminium bat at the boy, all in one fluid movement.

"Mokuba!" Seto dived towards his brother and cleared him just in time. Both their ears rung from the piercing sound of hard metal, reverberating from being slammed mercilessly into the concrete ground behind them. As Seto clung to his brother by the waist, Tristan rose and came forward to take a swing at them. Seto quickly lowered his brother and pushed him firmly out of the way. He turned back just in time to glance off a blow from Tristan with his metal arm cuffs. Anybody who thought those were just for fashion was a fool.

"Tristan, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" he growled at the young man through gritted teeth.

"I am not who you think I am," the Tristan spoke back in a deep, foreboding tone. He grinned maliciously, causing Seto to raise an eyebrow. That expression couldn't be normal. Not even for one of Yugi's moronic fan club members. No, this really wasn't Tristan.

The look-alike wasted no time in lunging again.

"Well then-" Seto blocked another heavy hit, "Who the fuck-" he swung back a fist at the Tristan, "are you?"

"Ohhh, I am here for my revenge, Kaiba! The one you've been escaping from for far too long…now, taste this!" the enemy hissed, taking a side-swipe at Seto's ribs with the bat. Seto raised his arms and leapt back in time, his speed and lightness of foot easily evading the bulkier frame of 'Tristan'.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba's shriek resounded against the warehouse walls. His brother was in trouble.

"Stay back, Mokuba!" Seto's heart was pounding. For a virtual stimulation this was pretty real, so he assumed the pain would be very real…_He had to fight_. His mind was going into overdrive.

"Big brother, catch!" Mokuba had found a metal pipe on the ground, and he sent it towards his Seto, who caught it down low and was in time to turn fluidly and land a cruel kick into his advancing opponent's chest. His dark boot crushed into Tristan's sternum and sent him reeling backwards, almost to the ground. Seto seized the moment to advance with his new weapon, and both metals met in mid-air.

They began a fast-paced exchange of blows and deflections. Seto's hands were starting to bleed from the rough edges of the pipe, but he would not dare stop now. Mokuba watched in petrified silence as the two young men swung their weapons close to each other's faces and chests, barely dodging each other's blows. Seto was beginning to get the upper hand, and bore down on the Tristan with a precise swing to the shoulder, "Whoever you are, you can't even fight!"

"Shut your mouth!" the Tristan spat, affording a wince as he drew back. But with the overwhelming pain came newfound rage, and he lunged viciously, "No- allow me to shut it for you!"

Bat and pipe clashed once more, as the two young men pit their weights against each other. Their straining faces were only inches apart, and the tension was unnerving. But Seto only edged him on, "Oh please, you can't even hit me!"

"I beg to differ!" the Tristan withdrew, about to strike again. Then a voice rang out nearby, "Tristan! Tristan! What are you doing?"

_There was that annoying voice again._.. _Yugi and his fan club must have arrived to watch the show._

"Tristan, stop!"

The Tristan who was not really Tristan at all, stopped to correct the irritating assumption, "I AM NOT TRIS-"

Yugi, Tea and Serenity gasped as Seto landed an opportunistic blow into the back of the Tristan's head. His opponent's eyes rolled back, and he fell with a sickening crunch at Seto's feet. He lay still.

A moment of fearful silence rendered the onlookers speechless, but finally Devlin bravely ventured, "W-What the hell did you do that for?"

Mokuba felt a lot safer now the fight was over, and found the courage to speak up in his brother's defence, "It's ok, it wasn't Tristan! We tried to say hello to him but he just jumped down from the rooves and attacked us. He had a deeper voice and he said he wanted revenge. We still don't know who he really is."

"Den he's one o'da Big Five. Da guy who won Tristan's body," Joey stated in misery, concerned for his friend's state.

"Body?" Seto demanded, as he bent to retrieve his upgraded weapon. Joey was about to argue, but the sight of Kaiba with a slightly bloody baseball bat poised over his shoulders was even clear enough for even he to read.

"Whoa, Kaiba. I don't wanna get ya ona bad day," Joey tactlessly tried the humour angle on someone notorious for being the king of stern.

"Every day's a bad day when I have to spend it with losers like you, Wheeler," Seto quipped back without a care, "Now, who's seen Noah? He's not going to let any of us go until I meet him."

"What makes you so sure?" Yugi began timidly.

"I know he does. That kid has some kind of issue that revolves around me."

"Dat's comin' from da guy who thinks the 'ol world revolves round him," Joey dared to whisper, but Tea nudged her friend to be quiet. To be honest, she wasn't sure how safe Kaiba really was after what she had just witnessed. She made a mental note to back off the friendship speeches around him…for the moment.

Seto only gave a sharp glare and then continued, staring straight through Wheeler like he didn't exist, "I need to find where he stays. If I can find his head quarters then I can put a stop to this all."

Yugi piped up, "But Kaiba! How can you do that when he seems to know every move that we make? He probably won't let us get near him unless he wants us to. And not to mention that the Big Five are constantly chasing us."

"I know. But he _wants_ me to meet him. He just wants me to suffer a little first…" Seto grew resentful once more, and suddenly turned up to his surrounds to address Noah, "Well, I've beat the crap out of this fool! Keep watching me Noah, because that's one down, four to go!"

He waited for something to happen, but was left hanging in silence. Hating being ignored, this was too much for Seto... and then Tea cut in.

"We need to take Tristan's body with us. We can restore it to him, somehow…" she giggled as she looked to the robot monkey in Serenity's arms. Mokuba's eyes widened as he peered over, "Are you telling us _that's_ the real Tristan?"

Serenity smiled up, "Yup. Isn't he so _cute_ this way?"

At these words, Joey and his monkey pal shared an exasperated glance. Seto walked over with the bat still in his arms, his voice full of dark intent, "I have the mind to get rid of _that_ Tristan, too."

The robot monkey that was Tristan broke out into wild jabbering and took a defensive swipe at Seto, who ignored him. Meanwhile, Yugi had his puzzle-solving mind focused on the previous duels they had encountered, "So far Joey, Tea, Tristan, Devlin, Serenity and I have duelled. That's all of us. Have they tried you yet, Kaiba?"

"Please. Noah is waiting for the right moment to duel me himself, but he's too much of a coward to stand and face me one on one. But as for me, that's a very different matter. Now, if you don't mind, Mokuba and I will be leaving. I have a challenger to find _and own_."

Seto turned on his heel to go back the way he had come, with Mokuba following by his side. The boy waved goodbye to them as his brother stalked away. Yugi called out, trying in vain to stop the proud duellist, "Wait! You can't just go. We should all stick together on this, it's safer that way!"

Seto's mocking laughing voice travelled over his shoulder as they watched him go, "Are you kidding me? I think I can handle my own safety, Yugi. It's you people who would need my help."

The group began to discuss their choices as the sight of Seto's white overcoat grew smaller and smaller. But only Devlin, a sharp, logical addition to the group, realised what had just gone amiss.

"…Wait, guys, where's Tristan's body?" his emerald green eyes darted around in surprise, "It was right there a minute ago…"

The roar of an engine from behind them answered the dice master's question almost immediately. Everyone spun in time to see 'Tristan' straddling a heavy-built motorbike in the shadows of a darkened shed. With a fierce growl, he kicked off the ground and lunged forward on his machine, and narrowly missed the scattering group as he careened towards Seto. Seto turned instinctively but it was too late- the bike was upon him. He raised his bat, a last defence. But the member of the Big Five was not interested in crushing Seto. Instead, as he drove by he stretched out his arm and tore Mokuba off his feet, then roughly hauled the boy's winded body over the front of the bike.

"Motherfucker! NO!" Seto shrieked, unable to take back what was stolen from him in time. The bike sped off into the distance; the Big Five member's wild cackles mingled with Mokuba's terrified screams.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> We are just getting warmed up. Next to come: Seto is put under pressure as a high-speed chase unfolds. Can he get out of this unscathed? Not a chance.

**We writers need our support, so ****give me the best review you got!  
><strong>


	2. Spirited Away

**Chapter 2 : Spirited Away**

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><p>"Mokuba! MOKUBA!" Seto watched the bike speed away in agony.<p>

_Wait, what am I doing? Get moving_!

Without wasting another moment, he ran back into the shed and fumbled in the dark until he found what he needed. _Another motorbike was here, thankfully._ He revved the engine carelessly, and turned the accelerator all the way with a violent thrust of his wrist. Seto blasted out of the shed faster than the Big Five member had, causing Serenity to scream as the wind whipped her ginger locks into her face when he shot by. Tristan, the robot monkey, howled in outrage after him.

Seto lowered his chest to the bike, treating the roads as his personal race course. He followed the Big Five member onto the main road, which led directly to a highway. He could hear the other motorbike's engine rumble up ahead, so he knew he was getting closer.

_What if that bastard dropped Mokuba?_ He might not get physically hurt, but the mental trauma could give him serious brain damage. That was the danger with making everything here so real; the pain was real too. Any affect the virtual world's inputs had on the nervous system, Seto was sure, had some negative impact on the brain. He didn't want to risk anything. He had to get in front of the other bike and force him to slow down as safely as possible.

As he came onto the highway straight he sped up, approaching the Big Five member and Mokuba, who was just barely hanging on. The man was laughing manically, clearly enjoying the game of cat and mouse. His head was thrown back in the wind and he was barely watching where he drove.

Seto gulped as he saw Mokuba floating inches from the asphalt, his hands beginning to sweat, "No No No! Not with Mokuba, damn you!"

But his pleas were drowned out by the competing engines. _Could Noah see this now? _Was Noah enjoying the terror that ran through his heart? Yes, his heart. He still had one. For Mokuba he always would. _Anyone but Mokuba._ _God please_. He was all Seto had left.

They entered a deep tunnel. The orange lights dimly illuminated Mokuba's hair being flattened, as his tiny frame clung for dear life to the front of the bike. Seto could hear him scream, "Seto! Seto, I can't hold on, make him stop! Seto!"

The boy's cries were flung behind them as the bikes sped onwards into the endless shadows. Seto brought his machine next to the Big Five's, but the man that appeared as Tristan would not allow him too near; he kept swerving and skidding away dangerously, causing Mokuba to scream frantically. The man etched a sadistic smile onto Tristan's young face. Seto would hate that face forever now, no matter if it wasn't really Tristan doing this. _That was the face of Mokuba's tormentor._

He sped after the man as closely as he could, without egging him on to make any more dangerous manoeuvres. The machines roared on in the dark tunnel; the Big Five member never allowing Seto to get in front of him long enough to force him to stop.

The longer this drew on the more traumatised he saw that Mokuba got. Seto was getting desperate. If he didn't act now Mokuba might panic and release what feeble grip he had left. So Seto let himself fall back for a few seconds, and while the Big Five man was laughing at this supposed sign of his victim's defeat, Seto lunged his bike forward and reached one strong arm out to Mokuba's back.

He had spent his whole life getting things right. Practicing. Perfecting. That went for his physical aspects too. And now he was putting his skill into action. _He…had to…make…this…work…_

_Contact!_

Seto wound his arm tightly around the boy; the bikes were almost touching now. Mokuba's body seized up, realising what was to come. But he trusted his brother implicitly. _This would all be over soon,_ he thought, _nii-sama is here now_.

The Big Five member came out of his stupor as he felt the heat of a second engine on his leg, and turned in fury to see Seto right beside him. He actually hissed, and snatched a handful of the child's jacket close to him. It seemed there was no way he was letting go this easily.

Now neither rider could strike out at each other, and neither wanted to veer away. So Mokuba hung in the balance, flying over the heartless bitumen that was only inches under his feet. His body froze up; his hand and legs were gathered helplessly together like a kitten when its mother bites its neck to carry it away. Fear stopped him from breathing, and his heart was skipping several distraught beats. His nii-sama had him at the waist, but if the other man tugged hard enough, he would fall.

Suddenly, the Tristan-impostor let out a vile wail of joy, and motioned to the road ahead of them. They were coming to a fork in the tunnel!

Seto had never felt pressure like this before. But if he couldn't handle it now, every time after this would never be worth it. _Nothing would be worth it. Not without…_

He glanced ahead. In under ten seconds they would collide, or someone would have to let go now.

_Never. _

With all the strength and courage he had left to give, Seto gritted his teeth and took the mental weight of his responsibility; he was above this man and his foul games, he would take back what was his, right now. His arm muscles ached along with his back, yet he ignored the body-rattling pain to squeeze around his brother's waist and tug hard.

"NO!" He tugged harder.

"MORE!" One more time.

"GAMES!"

His bike wobbled dangerously at the shift in weight. But with him came Mokuba. With the two seconds he had to spare, Seto veered his bike past the thick cement divide and down one road, leaving the laughing madman to career down the other path. He thought he heard a heavy, muffled thud into the wall that was between them…

But then Mokuba was nuzzling into his chest. Seto turned down to smile at his brother, and wrapped his fresh arm around him tightly as the boy sat trembling on the front of the motorbike, his dark hair flying into their faces as they sped on. Seto felt wet tears soak into his black shirt, but he didn't care.

Suddenly, he felt strangely exuberant. Maybe it was because he had just re-proven he could take care of Mokuba when real danger called. He cried above the engine din, "Yes, yes! I told you Mokuba, I'll always be there for you!"

Mokuba simply clung to his big brother's jacket and dove his head in deeper. The little boy had never felt so relieved in all of his life.

But that was when it happened.

Seto had a keen eye, so he was shocked to see a fat road block standing in their way, where it hadn't been seconds before. It was already far too close to negate…_So, they were going to crash now, after all they had been through?_

Seto tried to break the bike in time, but it lurged forward on its front wheel from the sudden force. Mokuba realised something was very wrong. He clung to his brother, simply grateful that if they would go, they would go together. Seto's mind was crying out to a higher power he didn't even believe in, _'How much more will you do to us? How much more can you take from us? What the hell do you want from us? WHY US?'_

He resisted all temptation to close his eyes, to play the victim, and give in to natural fear. He forced himself to control of his body and face their inevitability. He also tried to control the motorbike, but its will was no where near as strong as his. It was too late.

Seto watched time go by as they travelled forward in painfully slow motion.

The bike slammed upright into the barrier and sent them flying. Their bodies were hurled helplessly forwards, yet still, they clung to each other; the only certain thing now was their brotherhood. The rest of the world was too fast, too harsh, too loud, and too painful to feel. They were floating numbly by in space, together for those few precious milliseconds, before they said goodbye.

Then all was darkness.

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> Things get heavier after this. It's Seto we're focusing on, and his life takes a depressing turn. The story's darker aspect is about to show itself... next.

**Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!  
><strong>


	3. Waking Behind The Black Veil

**Chapter 3 : Waking Behind The Black Veil  
><strong>

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><p>Numb.<p>

Silent.

Blind.

_Was this death? Was this how it was to return to eternity, no longer mortal and living? _

Seto waited for a while, trying to regain awareness. But his condition remained the same. He no longer had any grasp on the passing of time. All he knew was that he could barely breathe. There was a strange sensation growing, like a pressure on his chest, crushing him. It didn't make sense. If he was dead, and his being, or soul, or whatever it was, had left his body, then how could he sense the physical? How could he feel himself breathe? Maybe he was actually alive but brain damaged, and had weakened senses…

_The __square of any positive or negative number is positive._

No, his mind was still sound.

But then, was he in the real world, or the virtual one? He couldn't tell. Everything felt the same between them. Before he was in the virtual world, he remembered that_…was virtual…the crash. Fast. Harsh. Loud. Painful. _The smell of burning diesel and screeching metal. His body being spun into the air. It was all too realistic. He would never forget it.

Wait. Not just his body. _Their_ bodies.

"Mokuba!"

He jumped at the sound. It took him a little while to realise the panicked noise that startled him was his own voice. He returned to the name again, this time softly, "Mokuba…"

_Maybe that was the pressure on his chest? Yes! It was Mokuba there. Was his brother alright? He couldn't hear him, or feel him moving. What if…_

_No. _

Everything would work out, if he could just open his eyes to see his little brother…but it was so dark. He tried to hug the mass in front of him, but found his arms uselessly limp.

"Oh Mokuba," he sighed.

For what seemed like hours, Seto stayed there; unsure of whether he was standing up or lying down, paralysed from the fear of not knowing if he was pressed against the warm body of his lifeless brother.

But as time passed, it was as if someone was lifting a veil for him and freeing his conscious mind, bit by bit. Things were clearer now. He was away from the crash, alive, but alone. The pressure was not Mokuba, but gravity, or the stimulation of gravity, pressing his chest into his folded legs. He was resting low on the ground with his face close to his bent knees. It seemed he didn't yet have the strength to lift himself up, but he was slowly regaining it.

Seto was suddenly aware of the other restrictions to his body- the four chains that wound their way tightly around his ankles and wrists to four metal pegs in the ground around him, and the black blindfold around his eyes that darkened his vision. _Had these been on him all this time?_

He strained to lift his head and take in his surrounds. It seemed he was in a large cement room underground. The ceiling seemed relatively low. If he could stand he would probably be able to touch it with the tip of his fingers. But he couldn't actually see anything- not the ceiling, not the walls that seemed to be in the distance, just hidden by the thick darkness. For all he knew it could be endless. The only certainty was a light was coming from directly above him; a frail golden beam that glowed down onto his subdued body.

The cement he rested on was cool and hard, yet the air felt somehow warm and comfortable. This was the kind of place that a harmless rodent might enjoy hibernating in, a calm refuge from the restlessness above ground. Seto felt protected, yet the fact remained; his body was out of his control.

His body…the cool cement…the warm air on his back, "Wait a second…I'm-"

Naked. He was naked.

Seto felt he was alone, so there was no reason to get embarrassed. But he was chained, blindfolded, and naked nevertheless. How had this come about? Who had taken off his clothes and chained him to the ground? _Who had dared? _

"I see…" This was one of Noah's sick little games. He was trying to humiliate Seto before they duelled. Was the brat hoping Seto would no longer be able to look him straight in the eyes, and let him win?

"Mmm…ah haha! Ahahaha! Not likely, Noah! Not even close!" Seto's bitter face now darted up to where he sensed the soft golden light, sure it was Noah's way of putting him under the spotlight. He yelled at it viciously, his blindfold only taking the focus to his viciously bared mouth, "You think you can break me? You think you know how to tear me apart? You have NO IDEA what I've been through! I can take everything you throw at me! You're NOTHING compared to what I've faced before this! NOTHING! And I want you to remember that when I find you! When I duel you! And just before I stand over you and tear your goddamn throat out! I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT YOU'RE NOTHING!"

As he panted down on his hands and knees, his dangerous vow echoed throughout the underground room, but was simply absorbed into the darkness. An empty while passed, but he knew his message had been heard.

By someone at least, "...H…hello?"

Seto's restrained form jumped as a meek voice trembled to him from within the darkness. _There was someone else stuck down here with him._

He heard the gentle shifting of a small body move towards him. The little voice began again, "Hello? Is…some…one…else…there?"

"Who is that? Mokuba, is that you?" _Or_..._Noah_?

"Please…do-not…yell. It…it's-been-so…long. Long-since…the-noise-is…a-surprise."

The little voice was not Mokuba's. But it wasn't Noah's either. It was a young boy's, and it stumbled over the words it gave, like a cripple child trying bravely to walk again. It sounded so tiny and helpless.

"_You're_ a surprise. Where did you come from?" Seto straightened up slowly, trying not to intimidate the boy lest he scare away his only chance of breaking free.

"I…" the boy choked as he struggled to speak, "…I was-always-here…Just-now-I-was-asleep…Your-yelling-woke-me…I-wish-I-could-be…that-loud."

Seto listened as the boy's voice seemed to warm up. The words were becoming less awkward. Seto asked him slowly, "What happened to your voice?"

"I-haven't-needed-to-speak-for-so-long-now…I'm-sorry," he stammered, his last words wholly sincere. _Yet_ _the boy had nothing to be sorry for,_ Seto thought.

"And you…'live' here? This is where you've stayed? How long have you been stuck in this place?"

"I-was-always here. For-ages-I've-been…I-" the boy's voice seemed to choke up again, but this time it was not from lack of use. Seto was about to intervene and give the boy a chance to gather himself, but in tears he spoke up, "I've-been-trapped-here-for-so-long! I don't know anymore!"

"Kid, it's alright. You don't have to explain yourself. This whole place is a nightmare...I understand."

"…You do?" the voice was light and questioning. It seemed the boy was taken off guard by this kindness, as if he were expecting scorn instead. Through his blindfold, Seto saw the outline of the boy who was trembling as he chose to get closer.

He felt uncomfortable at the thought of being naked in front of someone, but the boy didn't seem to care._ That was how long he had been down here, _Seto thought. _Long enough to have all sense of social decency eroded from him. Long enough to not care whether the stranger he met was even clothed. Just so long as they had someone to talk to. _

_How could they do this to a child?_

Seto tried to stay casual by resting his restricted hands on his lap to cover himself, and spoke in the direction of the boy, "…My name is Seto. What's yours?"

Silence dominated the darkness. The boy sat just on the edge of the small perimeter of light that surrounded Seto, as if he was protecting himself from foreign influence. He was still afraid.

"M-my name? My-name-is…is…." the boy stammered nervously, as if trying to recall the image of a long-lost pet. He whispered to himself until his words grew frantic, and he broke down into a new wave of tears. Seto washed over him in a calm tone, "You've been here so long that you don't remember your name. It's okay, kid."

Would it happen to him, too?_ …I am Seto Kaiba. Mokuba's brother. I am Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp. I am Seto Kaiba._

"Who brought you here? Did Noah do this to you?" Seto waited for the delicate voice to break the silence, "…Please, I need to know."

In time, the boy spoke, "It was the man."

"'The man'?"

"Yes. Mr. Gozaburo Kaiba." The words were spoken heavily, like anchors sinking to the bottom of the ocean floor.

_Gozaburo. Kaiba._

Seto's head was spinning. Shock gave way to curiosity as the words burst out of his mouth, "Gozaburo? Gozaburo…I haven't heard that name for so long…Are you sure? And how can you know this? Don't you know that that man is dead?"

He's not…dead. Just different. He-lives here, with the rest of us," the boy sounded like a poor village child, explaining to the brave traveller about their haunted woods in which roamed a ravenous wolf.

"Are you saying he still exists? Does he have a body?" Seto knew it had never been found. Maybe this was it. This was what had happened to that bastard of a man. Was his body in the real world, plugged into one of the real-world pods, just like Seto's was? And Mokuba's…

"I-don't think so. His body is-gone, or-so he-says."

"Oh…But his mind is here?"

"Yes. This whole-thing is-one massive…computer…program. H-he uploaded-his mind here, just-like-he did o-ours. But his-is permanent," the boy explained softly.

After five years, and after all the searches he'd conducted, Seto was finally receiving solid information about his stepfather, and from a most unlikely source.

It was obvious now, that Gozaburo was too much of a self-absorbed prick to stand living with the shame of defeat, but also too much of a coward to actually off himself. Instead, when he had lost his company to Seto, he had uploaded his mind in the virtual world to brood away. And now he had finally got his hands on the two Kaiba brothers again. This was why his aircraft had been brought down. It was all about revenge for Seto taking over Kaiba Corp.

"Isn't this dungeon empty except for us two? You make it sound like there's more people trapped down here. Is that how it is?" Seto made sure he hid the cringe on his blind-folded face.

"Yes, of-course there-are more of-us! B-but-not in-this place…and-no grown-ups. Just-boys like-me. I remember…we-were brought to his-home… long ago….we-started being-friends….Mr Gozaburo wanted someone to-be his-h-h-heir…ohh…" the boy trembled at the thought, "He-said he-wasn't going-to live f-for-ever…but he didn't-_like_ any of-us…he did things to punish us…he was…_not nice_…then…I-was s-sleeping one-night, and-I woke in-this computer-world. I-don't-know-how…"

Seto realised just as quickly as the words were spoken that this boy was a victim of murder. He had been disposed of during his sleep.

"My-friends too. We all woke-up here…together…But-we-got-split-up after we-had to-run…machines attacked us! I-was caught, and woke-up here. I've been living alone-for-so long…He used-to v-visit me-here…now I-think he's sick of-that t-too…"

This place was a house of horrors. Now it made perfect sense why the boy didn't remember his own name; he'd either had it erased from his mind when it was uploaded, or it had been traumatised out of him by five years of lonely abuse in an empty dungeon. Seto felt his chest tighten.

First and foremost, Seto wanted to get out of this dark hole and learn the fate of Mokuba. But if Noah was only a henchman of Gozaburo, his true opponent, then Seto had to understand more about his present state, and how to get at him. This could be the only way to free them all from this virtual prison. He began to think over every fact he knew and place the pieces together.

Seto had recognised the framework of this world from the start as his own invention. Now he realised, just as had been done to the little boy beside Seto, that Gozaburo had _stolen and abused _the potential of his virtual technology. At the age of eleven, Seto had only lived with the man for a year when he took over the company and Gozaburo disappeared into nowhere, seemingly. Now Seto knew he had uploaded himself to the virtual world. Earlier that year, he'd presented his stepfather with the design idea for a virtual world, which had been initially shot down as worthless. But if Gozaburo had a version of Seto's idea up and fully functioning by the time he disappeared, that meant the designs of the virtual world had been copied and worked on very soon after Seto had presented them.

_Stolen so eagerly. How flattering. _

The man had been missing and presumed dead for five years. So he had been hiding in this place for all this time! And sucker associates, so-called friends, and even the army had wasted their time searching the entire world, trying to find their precious Mr. Kaiba.

_Ha!_

But as Gozaburo escaped into the world in a matter of months after he created it, this meant the system would not have been as advanced as it was now. Seto's idea was a prototype, and needed work to be fully developed. Gozaburo had probably built up the primitive world from the inside. Seto was sure this place was connected to the rest of the cyber world, so it wouldn't have been hard to download and incorporate new technology as time went by. He could imagine the virtual mind of Gozaburo, laughing twistedly every time he added a new component, thinking how it would be used to destroy Seto one day, all the while mocking his helpless prisoners in their virtual dungeons. They were there to keep him 'company', Seto didn't doubt. Trust a beast like him to warp inspiring game software into something so wholly disturbing.

And as the boy had said, there were a lot more kids trapped in this world. They must have all been orphans to be so easily swept up like that. When he was alive in the real world, Gozaburo had been known for the habit of bringing in children from orphanages to his mansion. That was the way Seto and Mokuba had ended up on his doorstep, after all. His stepfather had told him how many times before he had searched for an heir, but he had never said exactly what he did to the ones he deemed unworthy.

At the time it was hushly spoken that his stepfather was working on an obscure new branch of computing technology that interacted with the human mind. His scientist team had found a way to store characteristics of individuals on digital files, which was quite an achievement. But the files had gone no further than that. They were just stored information, lying dormant. Seto now deduced that Gozburo had amassed many digital files, one for each boy, and when he saw the virtual world prototype he feigned nonchalance and seized it to bring the digital files back to life. He could see his boys once again. It must have been some private fetish of his, to gather the minds of his failed heirs, his victims, into a virtual playpen. Gozaburo had made places like this dungeon his human dumping grounds for all the minds of the people he'd rather didn't exist. Or, more rather, as the trophy room for his collection of victims. And the idea behind the pods was to allow the living Gozaburo passage to this world whenever he wished to make a visit…

_How sick._

Noah was obviously another orphan, but he hadn't ended up a forgotten protégé down in a dungeon because he was sly enough to accept Gozaburo's offer of power, in exchange for total obedience and servitude. That would explain why Noah enjoyed toying with Seto so obsessively; he had no real control over anything else.

_So, Gozaburo was using that spoilt Noah brat as his front._

And what of the Big Five? After they'd betrayed Seto, how did they end up here? They had tried so desperately to overthrow Seto that he assumed that their latest failure, when they lost to him in the Duel Monsters Quest virtual game, caused them fall on their own swords, just like his stepfather had years earlier in defeat. Once their five-headed dragon had been destroyed, their bodies had been damaged by the machinery, so it seemed there was no point of them living on. But now Seto saw that they too had retreated to cyberspace. For them to discover this privately created world, Gozaburo must have contacted their digital beings and called them into it…but how would those fools get the idea to upload a digital backup of themselves as an escape in the first place? What had they thought was awaiting them there? …Nothing, unless someone had told them about this world's creation long ago as a place to fall back on. Gozaburo had told them… _No…_So they had always known about this place? They'd known where his stepfather was all these years, and kept it silent from him?

_Bastards, all of them._

Now he had the clear picture; Gozaburo wanted to avenge himself, Noah was his fearful puppet paid in egotistical power trips, and the Big Five were whimpering dogs who had no choice but to come crawling back to their old master. Now they were duelling hopelessly for people's bodies to escape. They wanted out. Seto was glad they no longer had bodies to walk around in. Once he was out of here he would delete them all. Sending in a mega virus sounded good.

He just had to figure out exactly what Gozaburo was going to do to him in order to take Kaiba Corp. Trap him here forever? That seemed the most unoriginal thing to do. That was probably it. Gozaburo must have forgotten how strong his stepson's will was. He would drive the man's pixelated mind insane within the month.

Seto came out of his concentrated trance to remember where he was; the room, the surrounding darkness, and the boy, still waiting for him to turned again to face him, "Can you take this blindfold off?"

He heard him gasp, "T-they would delete-me for that! I-wish-I-could…I'm sorry Seto."

"It's ok. Let me ask you something else?"

"Okay."

"How often does he visit here? Gozaburo, I mean."

The boy almost scoffed back, "Visit? He never-speaks to-me. Can't you-tell?" A faint streak of humour glimmered in the nameless boy's voice before it faded back down. Seto could tell that this boy had smiled once. Had been able to run around and laugh. But it had all been stolen from him. His disregarding stepfather had snatched the boy away for his own purpose and then left his mind here to rot. He decided not to bring the painful topic up.

"What about Noah and the Big Five? You must know them."

"Yes…"

"Well?"

"Noah is-the only one I see," he was trying hard to speak fluidly again, "He visits here, s-sometimes…when he's feeling bored. He visits all the dungeons. He won't be back to ours for-a-while-now."

"And there's no one down here but us, is there?"

"No-one. Just us," as the boy sadly reassured him, Seto's heart sunk. If no one came down here, and he was tied to the spot, how would he ever get out? Now he knew the main objective of all this was not to duel him, but to trap him, and it had been achieved. He would be going nowhere from here.

He thought of Mokuba, alone and with no one to protect him. He couldn't rely on Yugi and the rest to find his brother, because they might soon be trapped too. He couldn't rely on his guards back in the real world, because they were being held hostage by armed machinery. He couldn't even rely on himself, it seemed. Here he was, naked, chained, and unable to do a damned thing to free himself.

_Yet._

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Finally, another chapter is out! I apologise deeply for the wait. That delay won't happen again. Credit goes to **Sherabo**, my awesome beta reader, who helped me refine the story to a higher quality. Thank you! *hugs* Please review if you enjoyed this chapter.

**Next, Seto discovers some perplexing truthes, and learns a bit more about this odd little boy. His companion somehow manages to elicit some sensitive and personal details from Seto, a rare occurrence indeed.**


	4. In Space With A Friend

**Chapter 4 : In Space With A Friend**

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><p>"NOAH!"<p>

_Nothing._

"NOAH! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

A soft voice started from within the darkness, "…He's not going to come if you yell at him."

"Well I've got to do something," Seto called out again blindly while the boy sat nearby with his hands held over his ears, watching the spectacle. After Seto's throat grew tired, he began tugging at the impossible chains and tried nudging his blindfold off with his shoulder, unsuccessfully. He wouldn't ask the boy to help him because of the reaction it made him have last time. How cruel they must have been to him, to have the boy panic at the mere thought of going against Gozaburo.

Seto almost went so far as to will the chains off. _But you can't will a computer program._ He was losing his grip on reality already. How long had he stayed here? Seto couldn't tell. Hours? _At least. _Days? _Probably._ Weeks? _Maybe even that._

The lack of clothes didn't bother him, because the air was a perfect temperature. But it still embarrassed him.

He thought that Gozaburo would at least come down to gloat in his face a little. And Noah, who loved to see him suffer -where was he? The two had obviously decided to delay their visit, just to prolong his misery. And his fears. Because Seto still didn't know what had befallen Mokuba. If he could survive the mental trauma of a crash, couldn't his brother? But before that, Mokuba had been badly frightened. What if it had all been too much for him to handle?

"Mokuba…"

"Who?" the boy piped up.

"It's my brother. He's here too. But I don't know where."

"You never said you had a brother. What's 'Mokuba' like?"

"He's the best little brother anyone could ever have," Seto responded surely as ever, "About as young as you, bright, friendly, loves to learn, knows what you say before you say it, and always there for me…"

Seto sighed deeply and put a hand to his forehead, "…Why wasn't I there for him?"

He had failed Mokuba so badly. They should have never gotten into all this mess. He should have crushed Gozaburo completely when he had the chance, years ago.

The boy neared Seto to comfort him. His voice was still very soft, but it had become steady over the time they had been together, "Don't be hard on yourself. This world is a trap. It's designed to catch anyone. You couldn't have done much to stop the attack that landed you in here. I remember how they got me…"

"How?"

"They ran me over."

"What?" Seto's eyes widened at the flat statement.

"Yes. They used a machine, maybe a large car. I didn't have time to see it clearly. They trapped my friends like that too. I don't think we were good enough heirs for him."

Silence followed, in which Seto sensed the boy was lowering his head. There was a certain feeling of deep inadequacy and guilt that Gozaburo imparted to all his victims. Seto knew; he had been fighting it off him the whole year he lived with that monster.

"Hey…I knew that man for a decent part of my life. I was his last heir," Seto confessed, and he sensed the boy jump in surprise, "It's true. I had to struggle every day until I defeated him. That was when he banished himself here. I think suffering through his 'teachings' contributed to making me who I am. And I realised that some people are so sick in the head that they will never be pleased with anyone, or anything we do. Nothing is good enough. So you have to not care what other people think. As long as you are proud of what you achieve, that's all that counts. Remember that."

The boy breathed in deeply, as if the words were permeating his lungs and touching upon a pain within him, and healing him with their message. Finally, he whispered, "I will. Thank you."

Seto turned away, his mind holding the image of a boy with long messy black hair and a striped shirt, running down the beach before him. It was the hair that blew into his face as they sped away from that fork in the tunnel, thinking they would be safe after all. If only he had stopped the bike then and there.

The boy broke Seto's torment, "And your brother, I think he's still alive. I didn't want to worry you by bringing it up, but I just think you should know that he's alright. Because I really doubt they would delete anyone for no reason. They keep everyone here."

"…But, what about his mind? We slammed into a cement barrier at top speed. You can't tell me that didn't leave even a single mark of trauma on his brain!"

"Do you remember hitting the ground?"

"No…"

"Then he probably didn't either. There was probably no pain, just a blackout…That's what I had, anyway," the boy recounted in a sadly reminiscent undertone.

"Maybe. Maybe that's what happened." _I hope._

Mokuba had been trapped with the same method that he was, so his little brother must be in a dungeon of his own now. Seto was about to fall back into the corners of his mind, overwhelmed with memories of his little brother and of plans to get free to rescue him But then the boy spoke as if in pain, his voice declining to a hollow whisper, "I…I wish I had a brother. Anybody. I'm always alone."

Seto didn't didn't know what to say, "…I-"

The boy burst out, "Oh please! May I sit next to you? I haven't seen another person forever! Please. I'm so lonely here. Please…"

Seto froze. That was out of the question. Not while he was in this bare state. But how could he say no? The boy was on the verge of tears. It seemed Seto's presence was teasing the boy with the friend he could have, yet was too distant from to be allowed to reach for. They were complete strangers. And yet…

"…Alright."

The boy gasped in surprise, but wasted no time in closing the gap between them. He made straight for Seto's middle and hugged him tight. Seto found himself wrapping a shackled arm behind the boy's back.

He was not as young, nor as small as Seto had imagined from hearing his voice. The boy was an early teen, slender and probably tall for his age. That was the _second_ thing that Seto realised. The _first_ thing he realised was that the boy was as bare as he was... Seto forced down an unhappy lump in his throat.

He spoke firmly, "You didn't tell me you had no clothes on."

"Neither did you."

"Ahem. You _saw _me."

"This is how he keeps us. It stopped bothering me long ago…D-does it bother you?"

Seto contemplated the most sensible answer. Neither of them was immature, and the boy seemed to have gotten over being kept this way, so he should too. He sighed, "No, I guess not."

They sat quietly for a while. The boy finally relaxed his body and leaned peacefully against Seto's side, "How did you do it Seto? How did you defeat him?"

_Gozaburo…_

Seto took a moment to gather himself. Going back over the topic was discomforting, but for some reason he wanted to teach this boy what he knew, "…I learnt all I could about business. More importantly, I learnt how to win. You have to be willing to give it everything, and to do anything for what you want. I bribed the Big Five with the promise of better positions if they helped me take over Kaiba Corp. I knew they were a bunch of slimy…Well, I knew I could never trust them. But for the time being I had to rely on their assistance. They bought up company shares, and combined with my own, we were getting enough to be a threat to Gozaburo's control. I let leak the information of my take over plans, and pinned the leak on Mokuba."

"B-But why?" the boy looked up in disbelief, "He's your brother, isn't he?"

"Yes. And he knows I'd never do anything to hurt him. But I had to give my plan everything then, no matter how painful it was to do. And you'll understand why. I knew Mokuba would be swept up by Gozaburo, who would then think he could monopolise my brother's two percent of stock. Gozaburo gathered up another forty nine percent in order to stop me, thinking that was enough. By the end of it he and I each had forty nine percent, but his combined with Mokuba's made fifty one percent. He thought he had won. He thought Mokuba would stay loyal to him, but from the start my brother never was. I think Mokuba knew I still cared about him underneath my angry façade. When the time came, we walked into the board room and I faced my stepfather. He was smiling at me, thinking he had beaten me. But then Mokuba came in and gave me his two percent, leaving Gozaburo high and dry. I knew he would pull through for me."

"But you hurt him. All that time Mokuba thought you were mad with him…he would have felt awful. How could you put him through that?"

"It made me feel awful, too. But what got me through it was knowing that after all that trouble, he and I would go on to own the company. That it would go by my rules, and I would get rid of the weapons and machinery that Gozaburo sold to the world. All the kids like Mokuba would be safer from them on. That's why I did it. And Mokuba and I had a better future because of it."

The boy had a contemplative look on his face that Seto couldn't see, "So, in other words, brotherhood helped you win."

"You could put it that way."

"I wish I had brothers. They would get me out of this place," the boy sighed.

"Not true. I don't seem to have done Mokuba any good."

"It's not your fault. Trust me. And anyway, you still love him. That's a great thing. No one has loved me."

"Not even your parents when they were around?"

"Not even them."

"We have something in common, then."

For a long while they sat, their thoughts making them more and more lonely inside, but their proximity making them more and more comfortable with each other. They were strangers, and yet…

If this boy could keep him strong enough to hold on until he could face Noah and Gozaburo when they came, then this was okay. Time passed incredibly slowly here, and whether he liked to admit it or not, Seto was on the verge of breaking down. Without his companion he would have been convinced of Mokuba's death, and already let himself give up.

"Thank you, Seto."

"What for?"

"For helping me to speak again. For letting me hug you."

"…My pleasure."

_And thank you._

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Little details, here and there. This one was a just little cute, no? Seto actually warmed up, but it gets hot enugh for a meltdown, Next.

**Review to your heart's content! (and mine, I admit =)**

(Credit to Sherabo for Beta Reading)


	5. Meltdown

**Chapter 5 : Meltdown**

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><p>Time passed.<p>

They never needed to eat. Seto's legs never got sore from being forced to sit and kneel all the time. He could not move much, but in the seamless continuity of cyberspace he never even had itches on his nose to scratch, so thing were 'bearable'.

The only thing they needed to do was doze when their minds got tired. Often, the two would curl up a few feet apart and fall asleep. It made them feel less helpless; to know they would wake and find each other there, just as it had been when they had fallen asleep.

When time for sleep came, the golden glow of light above him would fade into nothingness. It was the only sign that Gozaburo and Noah still recognised their prisoners were down there. _They were not forgotten, just ignored._ Then Seto would sleep in the wholesome blackness, able to drop his stoic face for a while, and let the tears force their way silently out. It was only when all was quiet, when the boy had drifted off into rest, that Seto's mind could open up and let his thoughts plague misery inside him.

The dark had become natural to him now. He had accepted that his blindfold would not be coming off for a while. He doubted the computer would let it be removed by hand anyhow. And he would not risk the boy being deleted just to try.

Seto's plans to escape had diminished somewhat; he had tried old voice command codes to override the computer programming, and even guessed some, but none worked. So his mind could not free itself from its chains. And his body alone could not free itself from his real-world pod. The last he knew, Seto's body guards were back in the real world and being kept hostage in the Kaiba craft by the submarine's computer-controlled artillery.

_Who knows. By now that psychopath, Marik, might have gotten to them first. _

And the whole party; he and his brother, the trapped duellists, their virtual tormentors, and those left in the real world out in the submarine, were all isolated miles under the ocean. They were far from civilisation, so there was no chance to call for outsider help.

Of the amount of time he had spent here, he could not say. It was intangible. Seto only felt his mind had been greatly worn by the ordeal. The only one holding him together was his new friend. And even this was beginning to not be enough.

He needed Mokuba by his side. Never before had Seto understood just how crucial it was to have someone supporting him as Mokuba had. He used to think that he operated alone, but he could see that was a lie now. He needed people just like everyone else did.

Were his stepfather and Noah never to come? Would he never get his chance to win Mokuba and his freedom back? His resolve on his demands were firm, but he was starting to care less for the company, and only for seeing Mokuba again. His opponents were crushing his spirit, slowly but surely. And every time he thought of Mokuba trapped all alone, his heart cracked a little more.

_How long before it shattered apart?_

He understood what really being lonely meant now. But the boy sleeping beside him must have gone through far worse. At least Seto had someone to be beside him while he sat in chains. The boy had nothing before he came, not even a name. Maybe Seto could offer him one when he woke?

He listened as his companion shifted in his sleep. The boy seemed intelligent. Seto seemed to have stimulated his mind with their conversations, but the more Seto taught him the more his own heart was sapped of its strength. He was growing attached to him, helplessly so. Knowing that the boy didn't have a body to escape to as he did, meant he would be left behind if Seto ever managed to leave.

_God damn it, I'll come back for the boy with a new body if I have to. _

It was never said, and yet Seto knew that he had been sexually abused under Gozaburo's hand. The boy was one of Gozaburo's failed heirs, in the real world when both were living, breathing people, and in the virtual world, where Gozaburo could touch the boy whenever it suited him. Sitting here, naked all this time, what was the chance the boy had not been hurt? His fate was of one that had been cruelly used and disposed of. Seto recalled those close near-encounters all those years ago, when he lived under Gozaburo's roof, and all the times he had to watch over Mokuba like a hawk. He remembered making sure never to study unless he knew exactly where Gozaburo was in proximity to his little brother. Anyone less vigilant would have never lasted.

_Without someone to protect you, or to sustain your determination…to give you a reason to live, then what did you have?_

"Nothing."

What was he without Mokuba to give him his reason?

"Nothing."

What kind of proof did he have that Mokuba and his body were even still alive?

"Nothing."

The boy beside him stirred as he muttered the cold death chant.

_Wait. _

_Gozaburo was out of sight now. Like the old days. And so was Mokuba… Why did the warning bells not ring before?_

"GOZABURO!"

Suddenly, Seto was up and straining wildly against his chains, shouting irrationally at the ceiling, "GOZABURO! GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM!"

Seto's head was thrown back, and his legs were forcing his body upwards against his metal chains. His spine strained painfully and wrists were red and close to bleeding, but his rage knew no end.

"GOZABURO! I SWEAR! I WILL KILL YOU!"

The boy woke immediately in a panic. When he heard Seto screaming he stood by the older teen and tried to calm him down, but Seto only yelled louder.

"GOZABURO!

_They were all helpless. Discarded and left for dead. _

_Their bodies were diminishing in their real world- pods… _

_And he hadn't managed to protect his little brother. _

_Mokuba's mind, overcome by Gozaburo's disturbed, spirit-breaking will. There was no way any child could survive that trauma. Not over and over again. Not after all this time. _

"GOZABU-" Someone had just touched him. He looked down, even though he knew he would see not even the faintest of outlines through his blindfold in the pitch black. He felt soft lips press against his bare chest. It was the boy.

"What are you…"

"Don't be upset, Seto. Tell me why you're screaming," his friend stepped back calmly.

"_I failed Mokuba._ I can never forgive myself," Seto's shaken voice was struggling against the agonising lump in his throat, "How could I not realise this earlier? Damn it, my head has gone soft down here!"

"Realise?"

"Mokuba! Gozaburo and Mokuba!"

"What are you saying?"

"While I'm down here, he's up there, with that…BASTARD!" Seto couldn't contain himself, and tore his attention back to the ceiling, "GOZABURO, I WILL DESTROY YOU FOR THIS! YOU SICK FUCK! LET HIM GO, DAMN YOU! HE'S JUST A CHILD! LET HIM GO!"

Seto was shaking, and his veins were throbbing. The boy stepped back, startled by his fresh rage. Seto continued to bellow at the world above him, sure that the beast was watching his stepson's torment.

"GOZABURO!"

He burned with a hellish intensity that destroyed him from the inside. Everything he had been was now going up in flames. His ability to take control of a situation, to overcome every obstacle. His vow of protection to the one and only person in the world he cared for; to the only one he would die for. He was the guardian, the shield. The 'big brother'. _He_ was a lie.

Seto was at war within himself. And losing to his self-loathing.

_You failed. You lair! You are no big brother_.

_No! I didn't want this to happen. I love him. Don't you know how much I love him?_

"MOKUBA, I'M SORRY!"

_You shall never be forgiven for this. Suffer._

Seto felt the sensation of a heavy lid being shut over his case, and he was forever dismissed.

"…Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh," he panted, completely exhausted. His fists were clenched, as little trickles of blood slid down them and clung as droplets to his knuckles. Like a broken storm, he sunk back down to the ground.

The boy rubbed his hands together nervously as he watched the older teen wallow in his spent fury, "S-Seto…"

"You're stuttering again," Seto spoke darkly.

"I-I feel-unsafe."

"I won't hurt you."

"But you frighten me," the voice was a feeble whisper again. It was too delicate to be heard. Seto couldn't bear it. He didn't want to hurt the boy as well. _Not like I've hurt Mokuba._

"Don't you understand? I didn't want Mokuba to get hurt. But all this time I've been here, I haven't once considered how far Gozaburo might actually go once we were apart…How could I not see that?"

"Oh, Seto…" the boy's voice sunk in understanding, feeling genuinely pained for his friend. Crawling carefully on his hands and knees, he ventured close and surprised Seto with a gentle touch on the arm, "We are both trapped. But no matter how hard it gets, we have to look up. We can't stop aiming to rise out of this. Remember what you told me? To win you have to give it all. We have to win this."

"What more can I give? My strength is lost along with Mokuba," Seto let his body lie flat on the ground. The unforgiving cement pressed against his worn frame, but he was past caring how uncomfortable it was, as the twisted chains dug into his bones.

A persistent body kneeled down beside him, "Mokuba wouldn't want you to say that. You can't give up now."

"Tell me," Seto's head lay weakly on its side as he stared into blackness. He knew the terrible answer to the question he was about to ask, and his despondently low tone showed it, "How often is it that Noah visits?"

"Someti-"

"Sometimes? You told me yourself that you've been here for ages. How can you be sure of how often he actually comes down here? We've been here for so long, and

still, there's _no one_…No, I'm starting to think that it could be many more months before he bothers to come. And by then it will be too late… I know how you lost your body, and I know how I've lost mine. It was due to malnourishment and lack of use. The human body can't live in a pod. It dies sooner or later. And then you're trapped."

This seemed to touch a chord with the boy. Seto didn't know whether he should care about the sudden quiet. But then again, he couldn't hear the boy's silent tears that pattered down to the cement in the darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Oh no, Mokuba's in trouble! Why did no one see this earlier? Seto, how could you not realise... Well, it seems he's shutting down on us. Even the boy can't bring him round. Poor little guy, crying since he was of no use.

**Next chapter sees us to the lowest of the low, but something surprising blooms from such a dark moment. Don't miss it!**

(Credit to Sherabo for Beta Reading)**  
><strong>


	6. The Death Of Seto Kaiba

**Chapter 6 : The Death Of Seto Kaiba**

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><p>After some hours, the silence was broken.<p>

"S-Seto. I want you to know i-it's not over. _We're_ not over," the boy's voice was trembling full of emotion.

But Seto's was coldly flat, "No. Please don't lie to me anymore. My body has wasted away by now. And Mokuba's mind is gone. There is no way he could survive trauma for this long, with Gozaburo or by being left so alone."

"You're surviving and you're alone."

"I'm not. I have you."

"M-me?"

"You're the only thing left keeping me 'alive' now."

It was wrong to be like this, broken and dead inside. This was not Seto Kaiba anymore, "I want us to forget I have a name, too. I don't need one here."

"But you won't be here forever! Please don't throw yourself away! Seto!"

"_Shhh. What did I say?_"

"Seto!"

"_No more…_"

"SETO!"

At this last defiant vocalisation, Seto lunged from his place and tore the boy down to his level. Their faces were close enough for the boy to feel hot breath sweep up past his cheeks.

"_I said, no more from you. Now be quiet_," Seto's words were a deathly whisper that the boy dared not go against. Worried he might infuriate him further, he didn't move, and left it to Seto to push him away. But Seto didn't even care. He was past doing the socially correct thing. So the boy was left frozen in suspense, his frightened face hovering inches above the older teen's.

Seto flinched involuntarily as he felt spots of hot water drop onto his blindfold, "What is that?"

The boy began to sob and tremble, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry it's like this! Please don't hate me!"

Seto took a deep sigh and closed his eyes. He breathed, "I don't hate you. But I know now; Mokuba is dead."

"But…I…If that's really true, then all we have is each other. I _know_ you're all I've got. Please don't throw me away," the boy's voice was soft and weak, just like the first time they had met.

_How can I let him feel so bad? It's not his fault. No one else should suffer for this. No one._

So Seto brought his arms around the boy and let him fall into his chest, where his sobs gently eased. But Seto couldn't cry now. Not for Mokuba. Instead, every part of him was dying inside; all his ambition, all his willpower, all his confidence. _Forget it. Let it fade away._ He was shutting down. He would never hold his head high, ever again.

_Goodbye, Seto Kaiba._

For eternity, they lay there in the blankness of their emotions.

As both of their pains eased into nothingness, they discovered a peaceful kind of release. It was better this way, not to feel a thing. To float through existence, numb to all cruelties. How safe they were, underground, in the warm dark. Free from all restraint.

After their eternal peace came a new feeling, rising from the ashes. Something that longed. The boy had known of it from the beginning, but now it being within him was valid. Seto was unfamiliar with it, but allowed it to wash over him. He would surrender to its sweet presence.

Both found there was something unspoken between them that needed to be breached. But not by words. Seto brought his hand up to the younger teen's face. He caressed his fingers over the smooth contours of the forehead and nose, and lingered over the soft lips that trembled. His hand glided over the chin and down the delicate lines of the throat. The boy's eyelids lowered happily from the dizzying sensation.

"We have each other now," Seto breathed down the side of his neck. From the shock of impressive heat, the boy's back suddenly straightened and brushed against Seto, who groaned in surprise.

There were no words; just instinctive movements. Subtle advances, that led them closer and closer to becoming lost in each other.

The boy turned his head to face Seto's. The warmth of their breaths mingled, making them more familiar. He brought his arm around the boy's neck and back to cradle him better, and the boy wound his arms gently around Seto's chest.

Seto felt his companion bring their forehead up to his own and press it close. He nudged back and they rested closely; a tender gesture of trust.

They were not strangers anymore. The boy smiled.

Almost without thinking on it, the boy moved his lips forward and embraced Seto's mouth. Seto let him be taken over, let his head be held while he was kissed deeply.

Would it be natural to allow this to happen in any other circumstance?

_What does it matter? Let it go._

The boy lay on top of him; their bodies touching while they kissed. Seto began to bring his chained hands around the boy and stroke his back softly.

The dark permitted what the light would not.

_And this boy is not a child. _

Seto soon reciprocated, feeling free to kiss back. He devoted himself to nourishing the boy's need for affection, and grew increasingly ardent until he rolled them over so that he was on top. He continued feeding off the boy's soft skin with his lips, caressing blindly in the dark across the paths of his arms and legs, and down to the valleys of his neck and thighs. The boy sighed as he was slowly embraced head to toe; for once in his life being loved.

Seto had no intention to go any further than this. He was only consumed with the beauty of their physical contact. _He would make the boy happy, always._ But the youth needed something even more than this. His body tensed and he moaned, instinctively tugging at Seto's hair as a signal to rise.

"What…what is it…" the older teen breathed, as he withdrew to rest on his hands and knees.

The boy raised himself by the back of his elbows and rolled over on his stomach. He then sat upright on his folded legs with his small back to Seto, and reached over his shoulder to pull the face of his blindfolded companion closer. The boy whispered to Seto in a daze.

"…I…" Seto's head was drawn around the boy's soft neck.

"…Need…" Seto gasped as he realised what he was being asked to do.

"…This…" The boy's rump was just inches from his own skin.

"…Please…" The boy rose to his knees to mirror Seto's hands and knees pose, and backed under his taller body. Seto was paralysed.

"_Oh, please_," the voice was close to whimpering. It was begging him.

_He was needed._

The boy began to rub himself against Seto without reservation.

_He needed._

The boy cried out as his offer was accepted. They began slowly, Seto taking his time in making the boy his own. In a place where time went by without any sign, he wanted them to remember this first moment between them. It would probably be succeeded by many, but this was their resurrection, when they dared to cross the bridge from death to life.

As they continued, the boy whimpered in pleasure and scraped his nails into the cement. Seto had become accustomed to relying on all his other senses, and now it was paying off tenfold. Every movement, every sensation, was so much more intense than someone else ever would have found them. And the sounds from the boy beneath him were driving him mad.

_This is-_

"Faster!" the boy panted.

_This is-_

"I-can't-control!" Seto was arching his back and straining the chains around him.

_This is-_

"Ahhhhhh!"

After what seemed like an hour of suspended tension, they came together perfectly. The pair let themselves collapse to the ground, exhausted. In heavy pants, Seto kissed the boy's forehead and then lifted himself off to rest on his back. He stretched his limbs out as far as his restraints would allow him and exhaled deeply, feeling completely relaxed. The boy drew himself to Seto's side and curled up instinctively beside him. They fell asleep in perfect peace.

But chaos would greet them when they next woke.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> I wanted to put a warning in at the top, but that would have spoiled it. I hope that wasn't too much for anyone. I must have been insane when I wrote this. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever stopped being insane...ah well, it's all good.

**Chaos will greet them? Review if you want to find out what happens next**!

(Credit to Sherabo for Beta Reading)


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